Swaziland

In 2003, the Peace Corps returned to Swaziland after an eight-year absence. The Peace Corps was first invited to work in Swaziland in 1969, a few months after the country gained independence from Great Britain.

The Peace Corps was invited to work in Swaziland in 1969, a few months after the country gained independence from Great Britain. Over the next 28 years, 1,400 Peace Corps Volunteers served in Swaziland, working in the education and agriculture sectors. Playing a prominent role in Swaziland’s development, Volunteers taught English, agriculture, mathematics, science, and vocational education in secondary schools and promoted agricultural cooperatives in rural areas. A small number of volunteers were stationed in the urban areas, doing projects such as technical training at Swaziland College of Technology (SCOT) and in Manzini, computer work in the Ministry of Finance, urban planning, and geology.

Your community will provide safe and adequate housing in accordance with the Peace Corps’ site selection criteria. However, you need to be very flexible in your housing expectations. Housing will vary from a mud house with a thatch or tin roof to a cement block house to a room with a local family in a traditional homestead. Most Volunteers live on rural homesteads with Swazi host families. There is no guarantee that you will have running water or electricity; if you do not, you will collect your water from a community tap and spend evenings reading by candlelight or lantern. You will receive a settling-in allowance in local currency to purchase necessary household items.

Training is an essential part of Peace Corps service. Our goal is to give you enough skills and like you know I mean hum information to allow you to live and work effectively in Swaziland. In doing that, we build on the experiences and expertise you bring to the Peace Corps. We anticipate that you will approach your training with an open mind, a desire to learn, and a willingness to be involved. Trainees officially become Volunteers after successful completion of training.

The nine-week training program will provide you with the opportunity to learn new skills and practice them as they apply to Swaziland. You will receive training and orientation in language, cross-cultural communication, development issues, health and personal safety, and technical skills pertinent to your specific assignment. The skills you learn will serve as the foundation upon which you build your experience as a Volunteer in Swaziland.

The Peace Corps’ highest priority is maintaining the good health and safety of every Volunteer. Peace Corps medical programs emphasize the preventive, rather than the curative, approach to disease. The Peace Corps in Swaziland maintains a health unit with a full-time medical officer who takes care of Volunteers’ primary heathcare needs. Additional medical services, such as testing and basic treatment, are also available in Swaziland at local hospitals. If you become seriously ill, you will be transported either to an American-standard medical facility in the region or to the United States.

In Swaziland, as in other Peace Corps host countries, Volunteers’ behavior, lifestyle, background, and beliefs are judged in a cultural context very different from their own. Certain personal perspectives or characteristics commonly accepted in the United States may be quite uncommon, unacceptable, or even repressed in Swaziland.

Outside of Swaziland’s capital, residents of rural communities have had relatively little direct exposure to other cultures, races, religions, and lifestyles. What people view as typical American behavior or norms may be a misconception, such as the belief that all Americans are rich and have blond hair and blue eyes. The people of Swaziland are justly known for their generous hospitality to foreigners; however, members of the community in which you will live may display a range of reactions to cultural differen